Display device.



No. 755,900. PATEN-TED MAR. 29, 1904.

w. B. MAIN.

D AY DEVICE. APPLIO T FILED SEPT. 21; 1903. v 2 sssssss sum 1.

H0 MODEL.

PAI'BNTBD MAR. 29, 1904.

W. B. MAIN.- DISPLAY DEVICE- APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 21. 1903.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

N0 MODEL.

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m: NORRIS PETERS c0. PHOTO-L'TNU. WASMINGTON, D c.

UNITED STATES Patented March 29, 1904.

PATENT ()EFICE.

WILLIAM B. MAIN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

DISPLAY DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 755,900, dated March 29, 1904. Application filed September 21, 1903. Serial No. 173,962. (No model) To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM B. MAIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Display Devices, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description.

My invention relates to a display device for fabrics; and its object is to provide an apparatus which will readily show how a given fabric will appear when made up into a garment.

By means of my invention any sample of cloth. can be displayed in such a way that a perfect idea of a trimmed garment as made therefrom will be obtained.

In accordance with my plan apicture of the desired garment (it may a pictureof a clothed human figure) is provided upon a transparent plate which is adapted to be placed over a sample of cloth. The background and all the figure is made opaque except for the parts which illustrate the body of the clothes, a transparent opening being left exactly the shape of the clothes, through which the fabric underneath may be seen. The outlines of the clothes and the trimmings are preferably drawn in opaque lines over the transparent portions, so that the picture seen will not be a mere silhouette, but will completely and accurately illustrate the garment.

I will describe my invention more particularly by reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which Figure l is a front view of an exhibitingframe constructed in accordance with my invention, some of the parts being broken away for clearness of illustration. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view of the exhibiting-frame, and Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the frame opened in position to receive the fabric which is to be displayed.

The same letters of reference are used to indicate the same parts wherever they are shown.

Referring first to Fig. 1, the figure of a man is shown upon a glass plate, the background and all parts of the figure except the clothes being opaque, while the parts representing the clothes are left open or transparent, so that a a piece of cloth f placed under the plate will be seen through the transparent portions of the figure as the material of the clothes. The complete outlines of the garment and the trimmings are drawn on the glass over the transparent portion, so that the cut and appearance of the complete trimmed garment will be clearly indicated.

The device may be made very simple bypasting on .the under side of the glass g a card 0, upon which the figure is printed. The por-. tions of the card where the clothesare shown may be cut away to leave a transparent opening and the outlines of the garments and the trimmings, as buttons, &c., may then be painted on the glass over the openings which define the shape of the garment.

In the drawings I have shown a device having two display-frames d d, hinged upon a common central back plate or bed-piece a. A device of this character will be convenient for clothing salesmen. One of these frames may serve to display one garment or a suit, while the other frame may be used to display agarment of another cut or an overcoat, for example.

When equipped with a display device of my invention, a salesman will no longer find it necessary to carry about with him several trunks of complete garments, as has been considered necessary heretofore. A comparatively small sample of each kind of cloth will be suflicient, since a perfect idea of a garment made of the cloth in question may be obtained by placing it under the display frame.

It will be apparent that my invention is capable of modification, and I do not desire to be understood as limiting myself to the precise construction shown.

I claim 1. A display device for cloth comprising a bed-piece a and double display-frames hinged to and fitting over the front and back of said bed-piece, each of said display-frames comprising a transparent plate upon which a clothed figure is shown, the background and the figure except the clothes being opaque, and the portions illustrating the clothes being transparent and having the outlines of the garments drawn thereon, each of said frames illustrating a different garment.

2. Aframe consisting of a glass on one side 5 and a bed-piece on the other side between which a sample of cloth may be pressed, the

glass showing in outline the figure of a man,

and the portion of the figure corresponding to a garment being transparent but provided 10 with opaque outlines representing the trimming of the garment, whereby on compressing the sample between the glass and the bedpiece the appearance of aman clothed with a garment of the cloth will be shown.

In witness whereof I hereunto subscribe my 5 name this 19th day of September, A. D. 1903.

WILLIAM B. MAIN. Witnesses:

W. W. LEAOH, DE VVITT C. TANNER. 

